From the Ford Motor Company produced film, "Scenes From the World of Tomorrow" documenting the 1939-1940 World's Fair in New York City. View of buildings of the New York World's Fair of 1940. The Brooklyn Bridge. Aerial view of Manhattan Island, New York City. Skyscrapers of New York City including the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building. New York Harbor and ships in the harbor. View of the buildings of the New York Worlds Fair in the distance in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, as seen from high in a skyscraper of New York City. The Fair's Trylon and Perisphere stand out. People walk along the sides of fountains and waterways at the fair. Crowds milling about, bands marching, dancers performing. Flags of many nations flying on the flag poles. Celebration of the 150th anniversary of George Washington, as the first President of the United States and a statue of George Washington. A bus moves on the street. Fountains and a small bridge near a waterway. Pavilions of nations of England, Japan, and Italy. The USA building and some of the buildings of U.S. States including Maine and Florida. Fountains and waterways of the fair. Woman and two girls eat ice cream cones. A Raymond Loewy - designed S1 experimental streamlined locomotive created for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Pavilions of American Telephone & Telegraph and of United States Steel Corporation, also of Westinghouse, Goodrich, Chrysler, and General Motors.

Lockheed Hudson bombers sink at a pier in Staten Island, New York during World War II. Two American built Lockheed Hudson light bombers loaded on barges await shipment to England for the Royal Air Force. The bombers are damaged as the barges spring a leak and sink.

U.S. army award ceremony at Halloran General Hospital on Staten Island New York. The honored recipients lined up. The recipients salute as U.S. flag is taken down at formal retreat. The flag flutters in wind. Major Jeannette Blech, Chief Nurse at Halloran Hospital, pins the Purple Heart on the uniform of Paratrooper Lance Leonard of Buffalo. A man in the background takes pictures. Major Blech shakes hands with Paratrooper Leonard. The Purple Heart pinned up on the uniform. Private Stanley Zych of Staten Island receive Purple Hearts from Major Bleeh. The Major Jeannette Blech is the first woman in U.S. history to present the Purple Heart to war heroes. The service men and women of the Halloran General Hospital parade.

Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects in New York City during the Great Depression. Skilled architects, draftsmen, and artists work for the WPA on a massive scale model of New York City, built in cooperation with New York University (this model predates the famous Panorama of New York City model built for the 1964 World's Fair). An artist is seen leaning over part of the model painting one of its features, which include detailed roads, bridges, buildings, and waterways. A hand lifts a building and measures its base with a ruler. Cartographic Survey WPA workers are seen creating a relief map of Staten Island for educational use. Artists including sculptors are seen creating new sculptures funded by WPA. A man carves a bust. Another man carves a relief stone commemorating Dewitt Clinton. A man stands in a Free Library and looks at books. Two women on a park bench look at books from the WPA Free Library holdings. A skilled artist is seen laying out and buildings stained glass windows for the United States Military Academy at Westpoint in New York. Stained glass panels depicting George Washington and soldiers are seen. A series of the George Washington stained glass windows is seen in place, with the artist applying final touches. Men work on the Federal Theater Project. Billboard signs advertising various WPA funded theatre productions in 1936 are shown, including Jefferson Davis, The World's Greatest Circus, Taking the Air, The Mikado, Macbeth, All American Minstrels, Battle Hymn, and Horse Eats Hat.

Italian influence on American life, reflected in foods and history. Crowd eats Italian food at Italian Festival San Gennaro at Mulberry Street, in Little Italy, on lower East side of Manhattan, New York City. Italian chefs cook pizza and other food items at a restaurant kitchen. Views of Ferris Wheel; . decorative lights; a brass band. Customers eating pizza in restaurant. They put napkin on dog and feed him pizza. A Casino. View of George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River. Heroic sculpture of Italian explorer and navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano (c. 1485-1528) by Ettore Ximenes (1855–1926) in Battery Park, New York City. Home of Giuseppe Garibaldi, on Staten Island, New York. Visitors enter the home, which displays sign reading: (in Italian)" He lived in exile, 1851 to 1853. Giuseppe Garibaldi, Hero of two worlds." View of statue at Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain, Columbus Circle. in front of the Union Station, Washington, DC. Italian Carabinieri march in Columbus Day parade on 5th Avenue, in New York City.
Italian and American flags displayed on building. St. Patrick's Cathedral is seen. Italian journalists at work in Washington, DC and New York City.